


Joker of Hearts

by ErenBombastic



Category: One Piece
Genre: AU, M/M, gambling au, will tag more later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-09 23:29:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15278580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErenBombastic/pseuds/ErenBombastic
Summary: Gambling is easy as long as you’re smart. That’s what some say when they become overly confident in their intellect. While a cunning brain is needed, in order to be a true gambler, you need to have the raw talent for the game.((EDIT: I moved Dofladile to the back of the pairing list because it will be a part of the story. Dofladile will be an important factor and will have more prevalence, but I wasn't thinking about how much time in-between me not writing and generally building up the story.))





	1. Punk Hazard

Caesar sighed to himself, looking at the bottom of his glass solemnly. Just three hundred million berries to go, and he’d be out of his debt. Caesar was one of the best gamblers at the Punk Hazard casino, however his money problems didn’t stem from gambling related loses. Despite his over confidence, after a few drinks that confidence turned to self-loathing while he imagined the fists of his borrowers coming down to break his nose.

            After a little while more of drinking, Caesar turned around and glanced over the casino It was a Wednesday night, so the amount of people participating wasn’t as high as usual. The Punk Hazzard casino wasn’t a bad little snow oasis to visit, but places like Alabasta had more of a defined gambling scene.

            It also had some of the most cut-throat people rumored about, and Caesar preferred being the big fish in a small pond. Despite the current pound seeming to dry out slightly, Caesar just kept telling himself that he just needed to scrap together the rest of his dues, despite how large they may seem to be. Worst comes to worst, he could wander away from his little pond and locate another little pond to drain.

            Caesar eventually took a deep breath and stood from his chair, trying to regain his composure before walking out into the game room, his eyes flickering while trying to find a new target. He rolled his eyes when he spotted the owner of the casino sending him stares. Vegapunk knew Caesar must cheat, but he couldn’t ever prove anything.

            “Lets see… already cleaned out that guy… and that guy… the Wano guy isn’t worth my time…” just murmuring under his breath, hesitantly biting his thumb with his eyes scanning every location. Eventually his eyes stopped upon a new figure entering the casino.

            The man didn’t walk in alone; on the contrary, he seemed to be walking in with an entire crew of people. The man was tall, blond, and his smile gleamed out brighter than any star in the night sky. Next to him was a similar looking man in makeup, however, this man was adorned in a black coat contrasting the other’s bright pink one. Behind the two men were odd people with different appearances, like an older man with a giant G necklace, or a larger woman with her hair two different colors.

            Caesar stared on and slowly grinned wide. The flamboyance of this group seemed to advertise that they were loaded. Caesar thought for a moment, thinking about watching the group before he made any contact. He had to think of the perfect game to play, guaranteeing him a win no matter what. After a few moments, his grin somehow grew wider.

 

            After a while, Caesar was finally approached by the blond man. He felt somewhat surprised when he saw how tall the man truly was up close. Despite this, he felt a weird feeling in the bit of his stomach when the man smiled towards him.

            “Hey, are you the guy everyone’s been talking about around here..?~” the man’s voice sang, his eyes flashing through his sunglasses as if he was looking directly through Caesar.

            Caesar tried to ignore the feeling and just nodded politely, smiling up at the man. “That would be me. My name is Caesar.”

            The man nodded and extended his hand, his smile growing larger to say “Doflamingo.”

            Caesar nodded back at the other’s introduction and continued to smile, keeping his calmed outer appearance prevalent. “So how about it?” Caesar hummed, “You want to play me?”

            Doflamingo’s smile seemed endless, like anytime Caesar thought it was at an end, the smile proved to become larger. While not frightened, something about that smile made him feel uneasy.

            “What game do you have in mind?” Doflamingo asked, taking a step closer to Caesar to close some of the distance.

            Caesar noted the move and cursed internally. This guy wasn’t an average player, he already knew how to attempt to psych the other person out. Taking that into consideration, Caesar smiled a little more like “While it’s probably not the most active game between two players, how about a game of roulette~?”

            Doflamingo considered the offer for a moment before nodding, his eyes shifting towards the roulette table. “Are we playing at the one over there~?”

            “Mmhmm~ just the house table~,” Caesar replied, his hands gently laying against each other.

            “Sure then…~” Doflamingo purred as he and his group walked over to the giant roulette table laying in the middle of the game room.

            Caesar ushered over one of the dealers before looking back over at Doflamingo, still smiling. “I’m sure you’re aware of the rules of the game? The ball spins around, and we have to guess on the space that it might fall on. If neither of us guess correctly, then the chips don’t trade hands.”

            “Got it~,” Doflamingo nodded, his eyes looking over before returning the Caesar. “So, lets get started~.”

 

            The first few rounds were normal enough. Doflamingo won a few times, Caesar won a few times, and the amount of chips exchanged and received were almost the same amount as when the two of them started playing. Caesar smiled towards the taller man, quickly saying “I guess we’re both equally lucky tonight.”

            “It seems so~,” Doflamingo replied, looking over the chips in his possession. “100 berries on fifteen black~.”

            Caesar looked remained smiling before he began to speak. “Hmm… I think I’ll do 1000 berries on three red~.”

            “Interesting choice~” Doflamingo commented.

            “Oh you know… where’s the fun if we keep betting little amounts back and forth~?” Caesar questioned.

            “I suppose you’re right… I raise to 1000 berries as well~.” He replied.

            Caesar smiled sweetly on the outside, but on the inside his grin was more sinister. As the ball spun around, slowly it found its place in the three-red slot.

            “Wow! That was really lucky~!” Caesar exclaimed, watching as the chips were slowly being pushed in his direction. As the two of them kept playing, Caesar’s plan to slowly burn Doflamingo started to become more apparent, winning small amounts of chips being bet ever time. Doflamingo, however, remained smiling wide as the game went on, despite the apparent smugness appearing on Caesar’s face.

            “Well… Let’s see…. So far I’ve won about 150,000 berries~ chip wise you have about 1000 berries left… you sure you wanna keep playing~?” Caesar cooed, leaning on the table.

            Doflamingo nodded, a gleam shining off his sunglasses while his grin widened like “Let’s make this more interesting~?”

            Caesar tilted his head and raised his eyebrow. “How so?”  
            Doflamingo just hummed softly before leaning closer. “… I bet 500,000 berries on fourteen red~.”


	2. 300,000,000 Berries

            Caesar paled, his eyes growing wide. “…. 500,000 berries…. Are you nuts!? You don’t even have that much!” Caesar yelled out.

            “Hmm? Who said I didn’t? I have a lot more to play with.” Doflamingo replied, leaning on the table to look at the other closer. “Besides, you seem to be on a winning streak after all, why worry~?” Doflamingo laughed.

            Caesar felt sweat dripping down the back of his neck. Could he really beat something as much as 500,000 berries on one game? Could the guy know about his trick? Caesar took a deep breath and tried to swallow his pulse.

            “… F…. Fine….”Caesar took a deep breath, before smirking slightly. “300,000 berries on 36 red~.”

            In that moment, when the ball started to roll, the two locked eyes with each other, only hearing the sound the ball made on the table. Eventually the dealer looked down and called out, “15 Black.”

            Caesar sighed softly, slight sweat dripping down his neck before confusion started to sink in. “ _But… how… how did it not land on 36 red!?_ ” he thought while biting harder on his thumb.

            Doflamingo grinned like “I guess no one won that time… why don’t we keep on making this interesting~” Doflamingo chimed while a new person entered alongside him.

            The boy couldn’t have been much older than fourteen years old, but still seemed like he knew his way around a casino decently. He was petite and almost feminine looking in his form, however Doflamingo automatically referred to this small blond as a “he”.

            “Young master, I got the case from the back of the car.” The boy chimed, his wavy hair getting in his face as he seemed to share a similar smile to Doflamingo.

            “Thank you, Dellinger,” he mused before turning his attention back to Caesar, entertained. “Now… Let’s stop with the chump change~” he cooed.

            “500,000 berries is your idea of chump change?” Caesar asked, raising a brow.

            “Of course… I don’t make serious bets unless they’re over at least one million~,” Doflamingo hummed.

            Caesar felt his heart momentarily stop beating while his eyes got wider. This man he hadn’t seen before was willing to bet millions of berries on a roulette game of all things? One that Caesar had so clearly at this point fixed?  
            Caesars mind then flashed to the last round. There was no way his number shouldn’t have been called. The only lucky part about that spin was that no one won anything or he’d be out 500,000 berries. Still, he persisted, believing that he could figure out what ever trick this blond haired demon was pulling.

            “… Fine. What’s your bet?” Caesar glared with his fists clenching together.

            Like before, Doflamingo’s sunglasses seemed to glisten as his grin grew wider. “You’re very confident that you’re going to be the one who wins, yeah?”

            “What are you trying to say..?” Caesar’s eyes narrowed.

            “Nothing if you don’t have something you’re guilty about~,” Doflamingo cooed, his hands sliding into his pockets.

            “Yeah, and I don’t have anything to be guilty of!” Caesar called back, having to take a moment to regain his composure before looking at the table. “20,000,000 berries on 20 black!”

            “Fufufu…~ Good, for a second I thought this was going to get boring~.” Doflamingo gleamed, looking down at the wheel. “50,000,000 berries on 30 red~.”

            Caesar felt his stomach flop. He was starting to get into the dangerous area as far as funds he currently had available. Whether or not most of those funds were supposed to be going towards his debt was currently not a factor.

            As the ball span, Caesar’s eyes remained glued to the table. Despite again, thinking he knew where the ball was going to end up, the ball closely landed in 1 Red, right next to 20 Black. He bit his lip but felt more relieved, he was getting some of his control back.

            “I guess none of us win again…~” Doflamingo grinned wide.

            “… I suppose not…” Caesar just stared back at him hesitant and slightly fearing.

            “… Now… How about we make this next one count for something…~?” Doflamingo hummed, causing Caesar to pale.

            “What are you talking about! We’ve already been betting this high- “

 “There’s no limit on how far I want to go...~” Doflamingo interrupted, before leaning over the table. “What’s too high? Hundred millions… hundred _billions…~_ I have no qualms going any height~”

Caesars breathing started to increase faster, his body starting to shake under the pressure Doflamingo’s aurora was putting on him. His yellow eyes where wide, unable to look past anything but the intensity of the man in front of him.

“… 300,000,000 berries on double zero~” Doflamingo enunciated ever part of the number three hundred million as Caesar attempted not to faint on the spot.

Caesar felt his life flash before his eyes, the sound of his heart beating becoming audible to his ears. Despite his fear, if he had three hundred million berries, he could pay off his debt and then some.

“300,000,000 berries on 4 black!” Caesar called out, his body shaking. Doflamingo grinned but before the ball was placed down, he held up his hand.

“Roci, please check the sturdiness of the roulette table~.”

Caesar ended up biting his tongue, his eyes getting bigger as the larger silent man nodded and leaned down.

“W-What do you think you’re doing!?” Caesar cried out. “You aren’t fixing this game now- “  
            “No, no… we’re just making this last round fair~,” Doflamingo held up his fingers, smirking. Honestly, I wouldn’t have even noticed your trick if your eyes didn’t give it away~.”

“ _I don’t know what you’re talking about!_ ” Caesar cried out, the sweat on his forehead starting to bead.

“Come now, take credit where it’s due~,” Doflamingo grinned as Rocinante popped up to whisper in his ear. “Ah, just as I thought~ dealer, bring someone over to properly adjust the pivot of the table~.”

Caesar started to shake hard as Doflamingo continued to speak. “Honestly, I really do mean that this is a great trick~ this wasn’t a case of making the roulette table tilt in one particular direction, that’s only guaranteed if you know what color and what number will end up on that side of the spinner. That’s fairly easy, but anyone with eyes could see that not only the table was tilting, but the ball always landed on one side of the table.”

Doflamingo paused and walked over, his hand moving to touch the spinner. Instead of tilting to one side or the other, the table loosely was able to move from either side of the axis with minimum push. “See, this is far more elaborate and takes more planning to get it to perfectly work~. This axis does lean on one side once it has enough weight placed on it, like the ball. However, you typically shouldn’t know which side the ball is going to fall on until the table eventually slows and leans towards the desired slot… but that’s why you didn’t guess correctly the first couple of times. You needed to know how fast the ball was going to be spun on average. Factoring in speed, resistance, and tilt…. You’re able to almost always accurately predict where the ball is going to land~.”

“Then how did I get it wrong these last few times!” Caesar yelled back, his eyes getting wider by the second.

Doflamingo smirked again and gently bumped his hand on the table. “The table touches the roulette spinner. Sometimes all it takes is the easiest push to change to direction of the tilt~.”

As the spinner was tightened, Doflamingo just stared Caesar down. Caesar quickly looked to the dealer, his eyes pleading. “Come on you have to let us change numbers!”  
            “What’s wrong~? Isn’t this more exciting~ No one knows what number is going to land on. Everything is based purely on the fate of who is the lucky one~.”

Doflamingo keep talking as Caesar’s pulse raised to dangerous levels, not allowing him enough time to change his bet as the ball started to roll around the wheel. Caesar’s eyes followed the ball, his mind filled with too many things happening at once that he wasn’t even able to calculate where the ball was going to land until it gently fell into its desired slot.

“Double zeros. Doflamingo wins.”

 


	3. Iron Mace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After losing to Doflamingo, Caesar is now stuck following his crew of misfits around.

            “Oi, Caesar, come one!”

            Caesar grit his teeth as he trailed behind the group of oddly appearing people. He almost wished that the bastard Doflamingo just threatened to kill him while he panicky tried to pay his debt back to the blond-haired man, but instead he was to assist the troupe of misfits until he either paid his debt off with assistance or paid it off on his own. The only problem was that any money he made under the Donquixote troupe automatically went towards his debt.

            “Eh, Caesar, we said hurry up!” “Dellinger’s still a kid and he’s faster, behehehe~!”

            Caesar cursed under his breath as he carried the brief case he was given. Diamante and Trebol were some of the worst people under Doflamingo’s rule. Rumors say that those two were partially the reason Doflamingo got into high stakes gambling in the first place.

            “Shut up! Maybe you try carrying it—What’s even in here anyway!?” Caesar yelled out, his eye twitching from frustration. Before Diamante could respond, Caesar felt a sharp pain against the back of his calf, the brief case falling out of his hands and into the hands of the smaller blond boy.

            “Kya~! Caesar-san, you’re so jumpy~ You better be careful or we might have to kill you~!” Dellinger chimed as he effortlessly took the brief case and started to skip forward in a pair of unnaturally steep high heels.

            Caesar felt his lip twitch, along with the aching pain on the back of his leg. Every person in this gang seemed to be a freak in their own right, even the silent huge guy that followed the demon flamingo around. The part that got to him the most was the off-putting familiarity of the group. Obviously, it was off putting for someone as young as fourteen to join a gang of gamblers such as this group, but there were also others that didn’t seem to be that much older than the youngest little bastard.

            Buffalo, though not a child, had obviously been with Doflamingo since he himself was a child. This was only made clearer when Caesar learned that Buffalo was not the best at gambling. In fact, most of his funds came from the other person who seemed to have been with Doflamingo since the beginning. Baby Five was twenty-two and her debt was astronomically larger than Caesars. Wanting to seem helpful, Baby Five was always the first person to offer small loans to people who simply asked.

            As for Dellinger…. Caesar couldn’t make heads or tails what was wrong with Dellinger. Dellinger naturally seemed to be overly violent to the point that he specifically wore shoes that could hurt people. Dellinger’s favorite people to hurt were people that made Doflamingo mad, and him.

            Caesar begrudgingly made his way into the casino, his eyes scanning to see if he had the unfortunate pleasure of knowing anyone. He relaxed when he realized that he did not, and walked to stand close to the group. Doflamingo’s sunglasses were shining again as he stared across the casino, his smile currently a milder version of his typical toothy grin.

            “What are we even doing at this place…” Caesar already started to complain before getting elbowed in the side by Monet.

            “Shut up, we’re looking for Iron Mace,” Monet responded in a cool tone.

            “Eh… You mean the witch? Isn’t she… you know… sort of worth less than what he usually goes for?” Caesar asked as he raised his brow.

            “The young master has a goal in mind, and being the most monetarily wealthy isn’t necessarily a part of that goal… anyway, I would refrain from referring to her as the witch while we’re around her if you want to survive.”

            Caesar rolled his eyes before they drifted to look at Doflamingo. Ever since Doflamingo beat Caesar, he could not figure the man out. Realistically, Doflamingo was probably keeping Caesar around so he could help win money at casinos the group attends together, but there was still more he could have taken from Caesar before that point. What was the point of having a niche family like unit of mostly blood throat people with the potential to kill? Sure, it was good protection, but the familiarity and loyalty was something that was still new to Caesar.

            As Caesar pondered, slowly approaching was a beautiful young woman being accompanied by two men fanning her. Caesar’s eyes couldn’t help but linger for a moment before looking away.

            “Well, aren’t you a sight~,” Doflamingo cooed, his smiled finally assuming its regular form.

            “Wonderful what plastic surgery can do, right? I suppose you’ve noticed my freckles are missing.” The woman hummed. As Caesar listened, he swore he heard Diamante murmur under his breath, “That’s the only thing you noticed…?”

            “I see your group has expanded since the last time you’ve come around here,” The woman said after a moment of formalities.

            “Oh yes~ I’m gathering a collection of people~. People who don’t know, this is Iron Mace Alvida. The most beautiful woman in the East District~.”

            It took Caesar a moment to regain his composure as his eyes grew wide. Iron Mace Alvida was not the most attractive woman spoken about, yet she was definitely the most conceded. This woman however was physically one of the most beautiful women he’d seen.

            “You don’t have to butter me up. As long as you brought me what I asked, I said I would help you out.” Alvida responded, turning her back to the group. “But thank you though.

 

            Caesar and the rest were brought into a giant room on the side of the casino. Doflamingo motioned to Dellinger to set the suit case on the table as the woman sat down in one of the chairs scattered across the room.

            “Honestly, I don’t even see how Buggy even got as far as he did, but really I can’t complain. It’s been nice getting extra funding.” She hummed, her fingers running through her hair.

            “It does seem like you’re enjoying the benefits of his reward~,” Doflamingo grinned, his hands slowly moving the open up the suit case.

            Caesar raised an eyebrow, unamused by the sight. Inside the case was a vanity decorated in crystals shaped like a snake. The mirror was tackier than something Caesar himself would usually put in his room, but then again, his favorite animal decoration was an axolotl.

            “Made in Amazon Lily, special~,” Doflamingo purred, his fingers running over the mirrored surface.

            Alvida took a moment to inspect the mirror, his eyes scanning over the snake design. After a moment, Alvida leaned back in her chair, looking satisfied. “Alright, I’ll give you an updated list.

            “Fufufu, perfect…~ You all can explore if you would like, Roci and Monet, please stay here though, would you?” Doflamingo chimed, shooing the other people away with his hand.

            Caesar followed his rag tad group out of the casino, his brow furrowed. Was it some sort of gambling list? If so, was Doflamingo specifically seeking out people that substantially have been winning in whatever area he wants to travel to?

            Before Caesar would contemplate anymore, Dellinger kicked the back of his leg again. “Kya~! If you keep making such ugly faces, it will freeze that way…. Oh wait, ~” the young boy smiled impishly.

            “Why you…” Caesar grumbled and glared, only to feel a presence over his shoulder.

            “ _Don’t pick on Dellinger,_ ” a high-pitched voice threatened as Caesar put a hand over his mouth the choke back any chuckles.

            “ _I’m sorry Pica, it won’t happen again_ ,” Caesar replied, biting on his lower lip half way through the apology.

            As Pica left, Dellinger kicked Caesar’s leg once more before walking away. As Caesar knelt down to tend to his leg, he felt a large presence standing over him again. Nervously he looked up, expecting to meet Pica’s eyes, only to see the strange silent man known as “Roci”.

            “…What?” Caesar grunted annoyed, just wanting to get to a room where he could be alone.

            Rocinante paused before grabbing a note pad from his pocket, scribbling down something before handing the paper to Caesar. Rocinante tilted his head goodbye and started to walk away, only to fall over his feet and trip as per usual.

            Caesar rolled his eyes at the idiot’s plight, but decided he’d at least look at the note. Surprisingly, despite the constant hazing dished out by the other members of Doflamingo’s band of people, Rocinante’s note gave more clarity to what was happening than anything else.

            “ _Caesar,_

_Sorry everyone is like this. This is sort of just how everyone acts. We just stopped by so Doffy could get a list of people that he deemed important. Fair warning you probably already know, Dellinger is a kicker._

_-Roci”_

            Caesar rolled his eyes, despite at least knowing why they were here. Why couldn’t the others just simply fill him in? Additionally, why couldn’t Roci just speak? The note and whispering gimmick was already annoying him.

            While Caesar’s mind raced with questions, Dellinger kicked him again.

 


	4. Arlong Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Donquixote Family arrive at Arlong Park.

            After weeks of what seemed like going to different casinos to play with little to no risk, The Donquixote family finally arrived at one of the more notorious casino’s. Caesar couldn’t help but notice the particular layout, thinking of where he’d seen this before.

            “…Arlong Park…?”  
            “Yep,” Monet interjected. “This is where the loan shark, Arlong does most of his work.”

            Caesar shook his head, his hands sliding into his pockets. While Caesar was definitely a man who has… dug himself a hole so to speak as far as money goes, he’s never had to seek the assistance of a loan shark.

            “Most of these people don’t even know how much money they’re going to have to pay back, huh?” Caesar commented.

            “Not at all. That’s why Arlong’s notorious around these parts.” Monet seemed slightly disinterested, despite the talk of someone with as much status as Arlong.

            Caesar sighed, his gaze focusing more of the other family members. Again, Dellinger had tagged along, despite being too young to participate in gambling. Next to him was Diamante, whom was too busy talking to Trebol on the phone to notice that Dellinger was already starting to find new ways to get in trouble. The only thing keeping Dellinger from harassing a helpless bystander was Vergo taking the shield as a kick magnet.

            Behind all of them was Roci and Doflamingo. Rocinante was currently pressed against Doflamingo, slowly whispering something into the other man’s ear. Doflamingo nodded after a moment, and his smile was more muted than usual.

            “Yeah it does remind me of when we were kids…~”

            Caesar sighed and turned his head to look away. What good was eaves dropping if you could only pick up one side of the conversation?

            Caesar crossed his arms after a moment and turned fully to Doflamingo. “So what, you want to drain the place?”

            ‘Fufufu~ You can if you want, but it won’t matter~”

            The bad thing about Doflamingo is that a person could rarely tell whom his ominous threats were geared towards. Caesar shivered after a moment and hesitantly decided to follow Doflamingo instead of veering off on his own.

           

            It took a while of wandering around before Doflamingo stopped at his desired place. Despite the appearance from the outside, Arlong Park was much grander content wise than most casinos. Instead of having one overarching theme, there were different sections that seemed to adhere to certain niche themes. Additionally, at different parts of the park outside, Caesar began to question similarities to something else he had seen before from the number of rides sprinkled over the vicinity.

            Doflamingo however, stopped near a roped off area. Caesar could hear the sounds of someone cackling, the voice lacking empathy. In front of the roped off area was a man with a sun tattoo on his forehead.  
            “Arlong is currently seeing a client right now, you’ll have to check in again later.”

            “That’s alright, we can wait~.”

            Caesar raised a brow towards Monet. Monet didn’t grace him with an answer, and merely pulled her phone out.

            “Awww… but Young Master you said after you saw Arlong, you would take me on the Ferris Wheel!” Dellinger began to whine as he leaned on the older man’s leg.

            Momentarily, Caesar wanted to react in nervousness to the casual tone before remembering that it was Dellinger who was doing the whining. If there was anything that Caesar was jealous of that Dellinger had, it was Dellinger’s ability to behave however he saw fit in front of Doflamingo.

            “I did, but I suppose that your patience is going to wear thin, huh~?”  
            “Yeah yeah! I want to go on rides!”  
            Doflamingo thought for a moment, his signature smile quirking the slightest.

            “Caesar~ Will you please take Dellinger out while we wait~?”

            Caesar felt a bead of sweat form on the back of his neck. Could he say no? Dellinger was already drilling holes into Caesar’s body with his stare, the young blonde’s smile quirking up into a flashing grin.

            “Kyaha~! You better not ruin this for me or I’ll kill you~.” Dellinger chimed, his grip tightly grabbing Caesar’s forearm before yanking him harsh.

            Dellinger, though smiling, didn’t seem so happy about having to drag someone like Caesar along with him. In retaliation, he made sure that every ride he went on with Caesar was the most vomit inducing ride there was. Caesar would barely walk straight when Dellinger finally began to drag him back to the roped off area.

            Doflamingo and the others were already gone, the man with the sun tattoo guarding.

            “Sorry, can’t let you in while Arlong is in the middle- OW”  
            “Kyaha~!... _Let me in now_.” Dellinger’s voice shifted at the end, sending a shiver down anyone’s spine who could of heard.

            Begrudgingly, the man unhooked the ropes and allowed Caesar and Dellinger to enter the room. On one side of the room was Doflamingo, and the other was a sharp-nosed man with a smirk only rivaling Doflamingo’s smile.

            “It’s not every day I get asked for a private game, especially from people who don’t owe me anything~,” the man stated.

            “Fufufu…~ I suppose not, I’m not your average gambler though~.”  
            Doflamingo and the man took a step towards one another, the light hitting Doflamingo’s sunglasses perfectly.

            “I only gamble big...~” the sharp-nosed man grinned, attempting to assert his authority by getting close to Doflamingo’s face.

            “… Perfect…. So do I…~”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit short so the next chapter will primarily focus on Arlong vs Doflamingo


	5. Billiards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the stakes rise, Caesar is put through more hell.

            Caesar felt as if the air could be cut with a knife from the intensity of the situation. Arlong and Doflamingo refused to leave each other’s area for several more seconds, Arlong being the first to move away. Caesar could tell by the glare in the sharp-nosed man’s eyes that he was not happy about losing the stare down between the two.

            “Alright then, what sort of game are you thinking of, Arlong…~?”

            The sharp-nosed man grinned again, his eyes looking across the room. Without saying a word, Arlong snapped his fingers. Out from the side doors a man with long braids and a man with blond hair and large lips, carried a billiard table into the room.

            “How about a little game of team billiards~?”

            Doflamingo looked at the table for a moment, his eyes more than likely scanning every aspect of the table from underneath his glasses. Eventually, Doflamingo grinned, nodding his head.

            “… Sounds good to me… what are you going to wager~?” Doflamingo hummed, running a hand through his blonde hair.

            Arlong grabbed a cigar from a box near where he had been sitting, his sharp grin unable to be contained.

            “Well,” he bit onto the cigar before continuing. “… I hear you have a lot of funds on you. If I win, I want ever last berry.”  
            “Steep, I like it...~”

            “Now, what would you possibly want…~?” Arlong questioned.

            Doflamingo chuckled softly, pushing his sunglasses further up on his face. “… If I win, I want Arlong Park as my own~”

            “What! Know your place!” The man standing guard at the door with the forehead tattoo called out. He only seemed to calm down when Arlong waved him down.

            “It’s alright Hachi. I suppose that my park would be about the same value as your savings… that just makes me want it more…~”

            Doflamingo smirked, his laugh filling the room. “… How about we raise these stakes even higher.”  
            Caesar groaned to himself. Hearing Doflamingo talk like money had no value made his stomach do flips anytime he thought of the large casualties that could come with losing it all.

            “What are they then…~?”  
            Doflamingo looked around the room, humming a soft tune. “… How about we choose each other’s teams…~?”  
            Arlong seemed to question the decision for a moment before his smirk widened. “…Sure, seems fair.”

 

            Arlong gathered more of his thugs, each man seeming more buff than the other. The problem was determining which few of them were the better pool players. Caesar attempted meanwhile to stay behind Monet. He still was not feeling too hot from earlier, and he didn’t want to deal with failing Doflamingo of all people when the stakes are this high.

            Caesar’s knees wobbled, his eyes closing for a moment. To make matters worse, as he tried to ground himself, Dellinger decided that he was going to “help”.

            “ _You better not fuck this up, Caesar...~_ ” Dellinger chimed in Caesar’s ear, his grin sharp and mocking.

            “ _Dellinger I’m not in the mood-_ ” before Caesar could finish responding, Dellinger jammed his foot into the back of Caesar’s knee. Caesar fell forward, laying front and center close to Arlong’s feet.

            A bead of sweat ran down Caesar’s neck while Arlong’s grin grew wider. Caesar tried to keep his composure, but the piercing glare was too much for him.

            “… Well, Doflamingo, I pick this guy first~”.

            When Caesar looked up to Doflamingo, his expression generally was the same, besides the fact that one of his veins on his forehead was protruding. Doflamingo began chuckling, his hands going in his pocket.

            “.. Caesar, I trust that you won’t fail me...~?”  
            “Y-YES! N-no problem, you can count on me, shololo~!”   
            Despite the confirmation, Caesar was already planning his own death. Caesar took a deep breath and stood on his feet, only hoping that the dizziness from earlier was fading. Despite all of these scared feeling, he couldn’t help but feel slightly better for himself when he noticed that Dellinger was receiving a firm glare from Doflamingo.

            “ _Okay,_ ” Caesar thought, taking another breath. “ _… Please, please… please pick Monet or Vergo to be my partner… just anyone who has any skill at pool…_ ”

            The silence in the room broke. Everyone’s head turned to look towards the other end of the room, shards of a potted plant scattered in every direction imaginable. On the floor with a shard of fired clay stuck on his cheek, was Rocinante. Doflamingo groaned softly, walking over to Rocinante.

            “I swear… you need to be more careful about where you’re going…”

            “Perfect, I pick Rocinante~”  
            “Eh!?”

            Caesar’s attention tuned out, his body shaking. Cold sweat started to form on his body. Despite not hearing, all he could see was Doflamingo evidently arguing with Arlong over the validity of his brother being the one to play.

            Caesar only came to when he felt fingers touching the palm of his hand. Caesar blinked, looking up to see Rocinante looking down at him. Caesar glared back at the larger man, yanking his hand away.

           

            Doflamingo’s choices were the body guard, Hachi, and the man with the large lips, Choo. Caesar looked the two men up and down, hesitating for a moment. Despite the appearance of Hachi, Caesar had the sinking feeling that the man wasn’t going to be an easy person to defeat. Being paired with Rocinante only made him feel sick to his stomach.

            “ _I’m going to be playing this game two to one, and with a handicap on top of it…_ ”

            “Okay,” Arlong began to speak, his expression smug. “The objective here is to score the highest amount of points. Each player switches between shots, and if you don’t make a ball in, then the other team gets a chance. You need to make over 61 points to win, or if all the balls are gone, pocket the black ball last...~”

            Doflamingo nodded, glancing at Caesar and Rocinante. “… You both understand.”

            “ _H-Haha of course~!_ ” Caesar laughed out nervously, Rocinante just simply holding his thumbs up to confirm.

            “… Good. Since I’m a good sport, Arlong, one of your guys can break~”.

            The blonde man with large lips, Choo, broke. The billiard balls scattered across the table, the three-ball pocketing. Caesar bit on his lip, watching as the cue stick was handed to Hachi. Hachi held the cue and hit the seven and nine-ball into the right most pockets. The only relief Caesar had to his heart was that the cue ball also went into the pocket.

            The cue was handed off the Caesar, the cue ball set in place. Caesar took a breath his eyes closing for a moment before opening again. With a hesitant tap, the cue ball sprung forward on the table, hitting the four-ball. The four-ball sprung side-ways, hitting the eight ball. Caesar gasped, his eyes trailing the movements of the eight ball. The eight ball grew closer to a pocket, only to hit the two-ball, pocketing in the corner.

            Caesar took a relieved breath, only to feel the glares of Doflamingo travel down the back of his neck. As he turned his head to look at the larger man, Caesar felt a hand gently taking the cue stick from his hand.   
            “ _Oh God, no its Rocinante!_ ”

            Caesar’s gaze snapped around, staring at the large man in front of him. Rocinante stood tall, a cigarette dangling loosely from his lips. Aside from the obvious worrying of Rocinante not being clumsy and sinking the eight-ball, Caesar was also slightly worried that Rocinante was going to set himself on fire.

            Arlong smirked as Doflamingo for once gave off the vibe of being genuinely uncomfortable. Rocinante leaned back, lining the cue up. Caesar closed his eyes tight, biting on his lower lip. A loud gasp filled the room.

            “ _Oh my god he failed, I’m dead, I’m so dead oh god Doffy is going to kill me..._ ”

            Caesar slowly opened his eyes, his mouth gaping wide open. Rocinante took a deep inhale on his cigarette, Doflamingo’s smile back full force as Arlong’s eye began to twitch.

            “... Rocinante pocketed the fifteen, fourteen, and ten-ball!?”

            “Fufufu…~ Of course, why wouldn’t my precious little brother do just that… we’ve both been playing since we were kids…~”


End file.
